Flowers on Friday

Even though I don't need to acquire any more paintings and I wasn't trying to expand the collection of amateur flower paintings - I had to get this last time I was in the Paris flea markets. It looked a little sad, like it needed a good home. It's dated 1933 and the colours remind me of clothes from that era.
Often images - paintings, drawings and photographs - work better as a series than trying to pick a single favourite. Especially photos I think, I love to see a black and white contact sheet as a group of interest whereas it's hard to single out one best image. Anyway this little painting (less than 10" high) is in the hallway now with other pals.

Also from Paris (sorry to be a Paris bore!) but a few years ago is a similar sized painting - an hommage to a Vincent Van Gogh painting, I wasn't madly in love with either of these by themselves but as part of a group they have their place. I do love the passion of an amateur painter so much more than a po-faced concept.

This one seemed to go well with the hyacinth. they lean in alternate directions so balance each other out and seem related by their yellow bases.

Flowers on Good Friday

Here's the penultimate flower painting from the collection.  This hyacinth is from a charity shop in Pimlico. It took ages to decide whether to get it or not, it's not really a thing of great beauty but I felt a bit sorry for it and I have grown to love it. The colours are very charming, pastel and old fashioned. The little ink bottle (?) is so odd but does a great balancing act and stops the whole picture being too fluffy - clever that.

SMOG ALERT

I thought this a lovely sunny hazy morning view yesterday, the air didn't seem great though and later we got our smog reports, still, can't imagine living anywhere else.

Flowers on Friday

Here's another flower painting from the collection, I think I have just 2 left to show you after this one. I love this one, the flowers look familiar but I don't know the name of them. This was another surprise bargain, I found it in a charity shop in Brighton for about £3. Brighton is absolutely the last place I expect to find a bargain like this because it's a town known for antiques, bric a brac and bric a brac fanatics. As with the other paintings it's the serious amateur style that I like. This painting is really effective from a distance, when you get really close and look at the brushwork it's less impressive, so, successful impressionism. I get the feeling this painter really loved those flowers, it's a great arrangement, maybe they were freshly picked from the painters own garden or window box.

Flowers on Friday

There hasn't been much good daylight in my studio recently so I haven't photographed things I've wanted to but there's a bit of sunlight now to present this cheery, bright flower painting. I dont actually go looking for these, I just keep an eye out if I'm out hunting for work stuff. Also I dont need them and I dont like walls to be too cluttered, I prefer pictures to have lots of breathing space around them if possible - but at the same time I'm crazy about images. I also got totally seduced by this genre - serious amateur flower painting, this one is particularly splashy and screams sunshine at you. I think it's the one I've paid most for, 30 euros in a bric a brac warehouse in the south of France - but not a bad price for flowers that will last for ever.

Flowers Found on a Friday

This year my mother declared "I hate Christmas" within an hour of my arrival. This was quite annoying as I'd really pushed the boat out with her present and bought her a limited edition Ben Hartley print, framed it and carried it with luggage along many icy pavements to get it safely to her. She also said she only had little things for me, no proper present. Ok, each to their own. Thankfully what she lacked in festive spirit the snowy weather more than made up for.

Restaurant Andre by Ben Hartley

On Christmas eve we went shopping and I browsed the bric a brac in a market whilst she sat outside in the sun. Luck struck and I found this irresistable flower painting for a whopping £3, yes!, unbelievable price. It fits my collection perfectly, I love the oriental vase and enthusiasm with the pastey paint. So I bought it and joined her outside and told her I'd found something she could give me for Xmas, she was thrilled and promptly plonked three pound coins in my palm.

Did you eat as much as this guy?...

Or store your treats like this one...

Aspic and Flowers on Friday

How appetising does ‘aspic’ sound? Mmm Yum.  Or does it just suffer from sounding like accrid and anthrax......more delicious than jelly and aspic though is this old box for their moulds, it seems to go perfectly with this flower painting.  I often find I've put things next to each other that match, although the decision is subconscious.
The painting is from a Paris flea market, it was 20 euros when I picked it up and 10 as I put it down, so into the collection it came. I like the damage to it on the right - this is real shabby chic, not fake!

Flowers on Friday

Here's another find from Portabello Road, nasturtians I think.... I'm always amazed you can still find bargains a) in a time when all cute vintage items are being snapped up and b) on such a well known and touristy market, so the finds feel even more like treasure. Thankfully it's maintained some real junk stalls. This was £10 and I got it with the one in a previous post so it's also had the white paint treatment. Luckily it is under glass so the splashed paint scraped off easily and now I'm scratching it off the frame to see where that takes me.

Flowers on Friday

I bought this flower painting on Portabello Rd market for £15 last week. I think some people have taken this 'fake shabby chic' thing too far. The frame had recently been painted a bluey white in household gloss - and gone on to the painting itself. I'm now starting to scrape it off. I'm not sure how it'll end up as the wood may not look great either but I can definitely improve on the current paintwork.

I seem to be collecting old flower paintings. The first one I found is this little one on wood. It was about 5 euros at Clignancourt flea market in Paris. I found it in a box on one of those huge rambling stalls with banana boxes full of junk. I love it because it's naive and sophisticated at the same time (like alot of so called naive art). The colour range is so rich and restrained. I think I have 8 or 9 paintings in this collection now and I think I'll show them all over time on Flowers on Friday.